The present invention relates to a still image signal reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a still image signal reproducing apparatus for use in a television picture monitor, for rapidly browsing still images that are successively displayed on a display screen for retrieval of a desired still image.
Write-once-read-many (WORM) optical disks on which a user can record data at desired times are a large-capacity digital recording medium. For example, a WORM optical disk having a diameter of 5 inches has a recording capacity of 320 Mbytes on one side alone.
Data recorded on a WORM optical disk are reproduced by a still image signal reproducing apparatus. More specifically, data on a number of different still images are recorded on a 5-inch WORM optical disk. Still image signals are generated from the optical disk by the optical disk drive unit of the still image signal reproducing apparatus, and thereafter a plurality of still images represented by the still image signals are successively displayed on a television picture monitor so that they can be browsed at high speed by the user for retrieval of a desired still image. A still image signal is generated from the optical disk and the corresponding still image is displayed on the television picture within 0.3 second, for example. Then, even when the retrieval stop button is pushed by the user upon recognition of a desired still image, the imaging passed due to the response time. Therefore, after the user has recognized the desired still image and pushed the retrieval stop button, the user is required to display back some still images until the desired image is reached, and then to push the retrieval stop button again. The above process is repeated until the desired still image can be continuously displayed. Accordingly, it has been time-consuming to retrieve a desired still image from a number of still images recorded on an optical disk.